"Vayag", the largest aircraft carrier of the former Soviet Union, set sail from Ukraine early this month. By way of the Cape of Good Hope of Africa and the Indian Ocean, the aircraft carrier is expected to enter the waters of Macao in February of 1999. The Macao Chuang Lu Tourism and Recreation Co. Ltd. made the above announcement the other day in Hong Kong. This is the second abandoned aircraft carrier that Chinese has officially obtained which was made at the time of the former Soviet Union. The first aircraft carrier "Minsk" arrived in Guangdong at the end of August, 1998, via South Korea.

The spokesman for the Macao Chuang Lu Tourism and Recreation Co. Ltd. indicates that "Vayag" will be transformed into a recreational city on the sea, involving an investment of nearly 200 million US dollars. The transformed "Vayag" will have on it a hotel with over 600 rooms, a large restaurant-typed night club, and a cinema etc.. Over the period of its transformation, thousands of jobs will be created in Macao. It is expected that "Vayag" will attract 2 million visitors each year.

As the recent picture of "Vayag" published by this Macao company reveals, the whole electronic warfare system of this aircraft carrier has been disassembled and its body is better protected than that of "Minsk". However, the military value of "Vayag" is limited to the on-the-spot investigation of the basic structure of the aircraft carrier, its designed layout, and its welding techniques.

This Macao company does not indicate if it has obtained the design drawing of the same aircraft carrier. The local source says that the person in charge of this company has a close connection with the Chinese navy ( Andrei Pinkov).

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